Faculty working on the online or blended GIS Graduate Certificate:
Dan Wanyama, Assistant Professor in Residence
Dan Wanyama has been teaching at the University of Connecticut since Fall 2023. Dan earned his PhD in Geography and Geospatial Science from Michigan State University in 2021, an MS in Geospatial Science from University of North Alabama in 2017, and a BS in Environmental Studies and Community Development from Kenyatta University in 2013. His research focuses on the application of geospatial technologies and data to study the shifting human-environment interactions associated with climate change, especially in agricultural lands and forests both in Eastern Africa and the United States. Before joining UConn, Dan was a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Oklahoma, mainly working to integrate data from multiple satellites to study human-associated and nature-driven disturbance and recovery regimes in tropical forests of Africa. At UConn, Dan teaches GSCU 2500 – Introduction to GIS, GSCU 3500 – Geographic Data Analysis, and GSCU 5500 – Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science.
Richard Mrozinski, GIS Certificate Program Coordinator
Rich Mrozinski has been teaching GIS courses at the University of Connecticut since fall 1998. Rich undertook his graduate studies at the University of Connecticut, where he earned the GIS Certificate in 1997. At UConn, Rich has taught GSCU 2500 – Introduction to GIS and GSCU 2505 / 5510 – Applications of GIS. He also manages the three GIS computer labs and various computer resources in the Geography Department, along with serving as the ESRI site license administrator for UConn.
Peter Chen, Associate Professor
Peter Chen is a GIS scientist whose research focuses on public health. He received his PhD in Geography from The Ohio State University and has been a faculty member at UConn since 2019. In addition to his research, he has developed a variety of community-oriented GIS tools for UConn and surrounding communities, ranging from static and web maps to more sophisticated data dashboards and mobile applications. He teaches GSCU 5516 Fundamentals of Spatial Database Systems and GSCU 5518 Mobile GIS in the GIS Certificate program.
Debarchana Ghosh, Professor
Aaron Nash, GISP
Aaron Nash is the GIS Project Manager for the Connecticut Transportation Research Safety Center (CTSRC). Prior to working at CTSRC, he served in the public sector for over 12 years working as the GIS Project Leader for the Department of Public Works in the City of Hartford, and as the GIS Coordinator for the Town of Vernon. Aaron earned his graduate degree in Geography from Central Connecticut State University focusing on GIS and Urban Planning, his bachelor’s from the University of Connecticut in Political Science, and was GISP certified in 2010. He has been teaching GIS at multiple universities since 2017.